Alrighty then. This here be my IIM-A Interview..ze real one..:D

Venue : IIM-B

GD: Nice round table we got. Very unlike the Indore and Kozhikode GDs, this was a proper round table conference table and the nice ole dude from IIMA greeted us and asked us about our journeys and told us all to relax and congratulated us on clearing CAT n all dat shiz..:mg:

The case itself was about Mohan, an IIT graduate who joins BAK - a helmet manufacturing company - and discovers some not-so-fair practices being carried out, that is 6 outta 10 helmets which are not crashworthy are being approved and sent for sales. This is in the wake of the govt. making the use of helmets compulsory and the competition selling off cheap helmets. BAK is facing losses but as an ISI-certified company they've had to resort to this because of their competition. Mohan approaches the floor inspector as also the MD, both of whom turn him down. The floor inspector, Gautam, tells him that this is a good way to put the company on a growth path. Mohan, is perplexed, what should he do?

The group was very decent, everyone getting to speak. I couldn't start the discussion nor did I get a chance to summarise, both of these initiatives taken up by 2 others in the group. I came in around 6-7 times in the discussion. The best bit was the fact that we summarised the discussion in 20minutes and when the moderator called time, we'd almost reached a consensus..:mg:

The ole dude then tells us all to chillax as each interview would last for 15-20 minutes and we would be called in the order of our seat numbers in the GD. He asked us to go for a walk and relax as they are looking to get the best outta us..:P :-S

PI time! : Wogay, so there was Young Dude - Y; Techmaster - T; and ofcourse good ole dude - O...and me - P ! :D

O invites me into the room and asks me which one of my three names is my first name and what i'd like to be called...he then introduces me as Payne to the rest of the panel, they smile in return n wish me goodmorning and so on..so far so good :D

Y - Payne, what is Carpe Diem??
P - (this is the name of our college cult fest) Its means Seize the Day sir..

Y - yes yes, so i should forget about the future?
P - no sir, its a phrase meaning that we shouldn't be burdened by our worries, that we should live for today. its more about the past not bothering us rather than planning for the future..:?

Y - who coined it? somebody must have said it in history...
P - :| dunno sir. :|

Y - do u think these cult-fests are necessary? what did u learn from a manager's perspective?
P - told him. organisational skills, team work..bla bla..

Y - yes but as an engineer? I mean come on man, any baccha can do event planning! and anyone can bring in DJ Nasha..!
P - sir, it was not so much as the people performing but more about the work that went into getting the event up..we also had various other competitions..more fart...told him about how we roped in sponsors..and more..

Y - wait, DJ Nasha is a man???i thought it was a female..:-S
P - yes sir. and he wore a multi-coloured shirt..:D

Y - :-S... who was the main sponsor? budget?
P - 12lakhs sir..we had RIM as a sponsor...told him about the costs, the profits..the expenditure..and so on..

Y - 12lakhs??? isn't that a bit high? don't u think u shud have donated that to some good cause..??
P - see sir, we made around ___lakhs profit outta which 50% went to a Tsunami relief fund later...i do not know the exact route for the money transfer as the management took care of it...:?

Y - hmmm..i see...*big grin* Payne, something has been irritating me..why is my desktop PC so biggg?? i mean i have a laptop which is sleek and sexy..but why is my desktop so big?
P - told him about space optimisation and power optimisation in his laptop..and how that is not used in the desktop and thats why it costs cheaper. explained about higher power, higher performance devices used in the desktop taking each component as an example and contrasting it...(couldn't believe he was askin me about computers!)

Y - sure sure. but why is this sooo big??? why can't i have a low-power, low-cost desktop?
P - told him he could have one but it'd cost him more and also reminded him of the performance advantage.

Y - I want to run only MS Word, why do I need performance?
P - sir, if you were running MS Word, I'd buy you a Rs.15,000 desktop not a Rs.40,000 laptop. do u want mobility or value sir? :)

Y - *grins* so its all about the money yeh?
P - yes sir, it mostly definitely is. as technology advances we will have smaller footprint devices for the same price but not right now. :) started droppin some tech terms...

Y - no no. save tech for later, he'll ask you about tech (*points to T, T glares at me*), but why is my laptop so small?
P - told him about the construction specifics, type of mobos used..so on..

Y nudges T.

T - whats a simputer?
P - :-S sir i vaguely read it somewhere...its another low-power mobile device sir. do not the specifcs. :D:

Y - what do you clearly remember then? :D
P - :D

T - Intel's new mobile technology?
P - (you've gotta be kidding me!!) Centrino sir?

T - yes yes. tell me something about it.
P - (still can't believe my luck) its 3 components sir. Centrino is just a brand name only new tech being the processor itself. Pentium M is by far the most different proc by Intel for the end-user. told him about Pentium M can't be sold parallel to the Pentium IV because of Ghz disparities and so Intel had to resort to different branding.

T - *smiles* continue..architecture?
P - Gave him a fair idea..spoke about IPCs and pipelining difference between P-M and P-IV..

T - what about the other 2 components?
P - Intel's own wi-fi solution. spoke about wi-fi its range, different standards. and Intel extreme graphics, related this to the space-saving in the laptop, spoke about memory sharing..and more..:P

T - what are PDAs? what do they use?
P - told 'im. took Palm I/II/III as examples. spoke about chottu microprocs, OSes..so on.

T - hmmm...whats RISC how does it differ from conventional computing?
P - (mind drew a blank:( ) told 'im abt CISC and IBM's efforts to put RISC in the mainstream....*worst part of the intrvw, cudnt believe i forgot this!:( *

T - Are you currently working on your project? what does it involve?
P - outlined my project. spoke about RFID and how we plan to implement it in a supply chain management system as well as directly in a shopping mall on the lines of a Foodworld.

T - Don't you think its unrealistic? what are the prices?
P - told him. also spoke about WalMart already implementing it. but prices still steep for national implementation. told him about technological advances and competition always bringing down prices.

T - How does RFID work? Software?
P - told him. also told him about our back-end programming.

T - hmmm...*looks at O*.

O - Payne, what is Synapse?
P - Its the electric arc sparked between two neurons..more blah..told him it was a term coined by my seniors. (for my tech fest)

O - Why Synapse? I dint know what it meant till u told me. It reminds me of collapse, relapse, apocalypse even! Why this name? Do u think brand-names have a meaning?
P - Spoke about how it was meant for a techfest. Spoke about target audiences...and more blah.

O - How do brand-names affect you as a consumer?
P - took various examples..had fun..global stuff anyways..:D

O - One last thing Payne, your picture here, (arrgghhh..my photo for the CAT form and so for my IIM-A form had me in a yellow shirt with Revolt!! printed on it..:p ), tell me what I should make of it?
P - Sir, as an unbiased observer or as an interviewer from an IIM? :D

O grins and says - as a totally unbiased observer.
P - (took my chances) Sir, it would reflect the fact that the individual is daring and bold, confident also as he's wearing an yellow shirt. Those letters on the t-shirt just go on to confirm the fact. *grinned* But honestly speaking sir, I picked it up because it was bright, I dint read what was on the T-shirt! Plus, I wore that tee right before I left for the studio..:mg:

O - So what about now? You are dressed quite formally?
P - Yes, sir. I'm sticking to the occasion, this is an IIM interview isn't it? :)

Y - So ur photo-taking session wasn't an occasion?
P - No sir, as I was in a hurry for the CAT form..:D

O,Y,T - thanks Payne. take a toffee..
O - you are leaving bangalore today?
P - Yes sir, for hyderabad. will be returning on 17th though..

O - Have a nice journey. *I get up* Y - Hold on..17th for IIM-cal?
P - Yes sir...

Y - Won't u pick C before A? You know systems and all that and your a all hardcore systems guy? IIM-A is all finance...
*still standing* P - Sir, I'd make the obvious choice. But first, if I got an A call I'd be most grateful..:D and its marketing I'm after sir, not systems..and finally sir, I haven't applied to the PGDCM course at IIM-Cal..:D

*everyone grins* thank you Payne.

P - :D Thank you sirs.


done.

My best interview yet. Comparing it with my mocks and my I,K interviews that is. I don't have high hopes only 'coz u can't judge from such a grinning-smiling conversational interview..:? But 'tis was one helluva experience..:D

 

 



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